We finally left the dock and went sailing (mostly motor sailing) for the long holiday weekend to the Great Barrier Island. On Thursday afternoon, we left work and motored the long way up the river to Marsden Cove to anchor for the night so we would have a good start on the 60 mile trip. Gerry, a co-worker who used to live on the island, came along to show us around and make sure we caught fish. When he went down for a nap, Russ caught a fish for dinner on the line he had rigged up. On Friday, we anchored at the south-east part of the island at Medlands Beach. Gerry jumped off the boat with his surfboard to catch a few rides and then we BBQ's the fish for dinner. The anchorage and beach were beautiful but rolly, so Saturday afternoon, we decided to move the west side of the Island to Tryphena. Since we were in a more populated location, we were able to rent a car on Sunday and drive around to see more of the island (see photo gallery). Then Monday we started off at 3am to make it back before low tide in Whangarei and Tuesday it was back to work. Way too short!